Sunday, April 30, 2017

Security forces' campaign of extrajudicial murders in N. Sinai?

Information gathered by Amnesty International confirms that members of
Egyptian military are responsible for at least seven unlawful killings,
including shooting dead at point blank range an unarmed man and a
17-year-old child.

The organization’s experts analyzed leaked video footage of the killings and compared it with photographs and a YouTube video
published by the Egyptian military, as well as interviewing Sinai-based
sources and experts. The footage shows a member of the Egyptian
military shooting the child dead alongside another man in military
uniform, whose accent indicates that he is a Sinai local.

The bodies of
five other men who appear to have been killed earlier also appear in the
video.

“The ease with which the members of the Egyptian military forces
participated in the killing of defenseless men in cold blood shows that
they fear no oversight or accountability for their actions.

These
killings amount to extrajudicial executions, crimes which Egypt has an
obligation under international law to investigate, prosecute and punish.
They fit into a disturbing pattern of apparent such killings in North
Sinai,” said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty International’s Campaigns director
for North Africa.

In January, Amnesty International highlighted the extrajudicial
execution of six men by members of the security forces in North Sinai.
The men had been in state custody for one to three months at the time of
their killing.

The leaked video broadcast on the Islamist-leaning TV station
Mekameleen also shows members of the Egyptian military holding at least
two unarmed men in US Humvee armoured vehicles before they were shot
dead. The USA is Egypt’s main supplier of military equipment.

According
to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the USA
has delivered over 1,000 Armoured Personnel Vehicles to Egypt since
2003, including 100 Humvees (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled
Vehicles.)

“States including the USA have been transferring arms used by the
military in North Sinai without ensuring any oversight or monitoring of
the extent to which they may being used to commit or to facilitate the
commission of serious human rights violations. All such transfers must
be halted,” said Najia Bounaim.

Amnesty International has confirmed that a Facebook statement by Egypt’s military spokesperson in December 2016 and YouTube video
by the Ministry of Defense on 5 November 2016 showed images of at least
two of the victims who are seen being killed in the leaked video.

The
spokesman said these were “terrorists” killed by the military during
counter-terror operations in North Sinai. The leaked video however,
shows that at least two of the men killed were unarmed at the time and
analysis of the footage indicates that the arms were later planted by
the military next to their bodies to make it appear as if they were
fighters killed after an exchange of fire.

In analyzing the video, Amnesty International experts also confirmed
that this incident took place before 5 November 2016 given the video
posted by the Ministry of Defense was posted on that date.

According to Sinai-based sources, this video was shot in a desert
area that lies between south Sheikh Zowaid and Rafah in North Sinai.
Online local news outlet Sinai 24 reported that two of the victims
are brothers, named Abd el-Hady Sabry, aged 16 and Dawood Sabry aged
19. They both belong to a tribe called al-Awabda from Rafah town on the
Egypt-Israel border. This is consistent with the video, which shows that
prior to being shot dead the teenager said that he belonged to the
al-Awabda tribe and was from Rafah.

The video clearly shows the man in uniform with a Sinai accent,
believed to be a local bedouin recruit operating under military control,
shooting an unarmed man with five bullets to the head. Over the past
couple of years the military in Sinai has increasingly relied on some
local Sinai families to assist them in intelligence gathering.

An August
2016 Mada Masr article
cites interviews with Sinai recruits who acted as auxiliaries to assist
the military in conducting operations in areas where the military could
otherwise not enter.

Sinai observer, Mohannad Sabry, said that this had
created much friction between Sinai tribes related to revenge and
retaliation given these non-military armed members acted outside of the
law on many occasions against Sinai residents.

“Whether or not he is a full member of the Egyptian military, this
man was acting under military command and control. The Egyptian military
is responsible for these cold blooded killings,” said Najia Bounaim.

“It is crucial that those responsible for these appalling killings do
not go unpunished. A failure to prosecute and punish those responsible
will further fuel the pervasive impunity for crimes committed by
security forces and give a green light for an escalation of violations.”

Additional information: Analysis of photographic and video evidence

Analysis of a leaked video do not appear to show any signs of manipulation or staging. Photos published by the Army spokesperson on December 6 , 2016, show two bodies that are also visible in the leaked video.

The same bodies appear in a video released by the Ministry of Defense on November 5, 2016, the incident thus had to happened before that date.

There are several serious concerns that should be raised: Most
importantly, a corpse of a person who was filmed being executed while in
custody of armed forces appears to displays the same body posture (face
up, right knee at an angle, right hand on crotch) and clothes (blue
jeans, dark sweater) as a corpse visible in a video released by the
ministry of Defense on November 5, 2016. In the video released by the
MoD, a rifle is visible next to the body, which was not present when
the person was executed.

Corpse after execution visible in a leaked video

Corpse displaying same body
posture and clothes then the person being executed while in custody of
armed forces. Rifle is seen next to body, which was absent at the moment
person was executed. Screenshot taken from MoD video

A further question raises the following scene, where again a rifle was probably placed next to a corpse.

In a leaked video
published on April 20. Rifle visible in the photo released by the Army
spokesperson appears to be missing.